Electromechanical attachment for business form machines



June 1, 1954 H, GlNTOVT 2,680,029

ELECTROMECHANICAL. ATTACHMENT FOR BUSINESS FORM MACHINES Filed April 1,1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1N VEN TOR.

H. GINTOVT June 1, 1954 ELECTROMECHANICAL ATTACHMENT FOR BUSINESS FORMMACHINES Filed April 1, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Will/W Patented June 1,1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ELECTROMECHANICAL ATTACHMENT FORBUSINESS FORM MACHINES 11 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a mechanism for power driving business formmachines of the type which are commonly employed to contain and dispensebusiness forms, such as printed order blanks, connected one to another,and arranged in folded relationship.

In such machines it is customary to provide a feed roll mechanism forperiodically moving the forms along the top of the machine into positionto receive written subject matter. With each revolution of the feed rollmechanism it is desirable that the used form be carried forwardly into aposition Where the form can be torn ofi while a new form issimultaneously brought up ready to be used. Operation of the feed rollsis commonly carried out by means of a hand cranking apparatus. It haslong been recognized, however, that power driving means to take theplace of the hand cranking apparatus offers desirable advantages, andfrom time to time efforts have been made to devise a satisfactory powerdriving mechanism. So far as I am aware these charts have not beensuccessful owing to limitations in available space in such machines andto the difiiculty in securing accurate register with each feedingoperation.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to improve businessform machines of the general class indicated and to devise a simple,efiicient, and dependable power driving mechanism for actuating the feedrolls of such business form machines. The invention also aims to providea compact power driving mechanism which can be simply and cheaplymanufactured and attached to business form machines to furnish a highlyaccurate register of each individual form so that its line of foldingwith respect to an adjacent form will always stop at the same point anda correct tear line will be observed. Still another object of theinvention is to devise a control for power driving mechanisms of thetype referred to whereby the power for stopping and starting the machinemay be instantly utilized or cut off, as the case may be, and noopportunity can develop for incorrect register. Still another object isto devise a mechanism of the class indicated which requires noparticular skill to operate; which cannot interfere with the normalfeeding function of the machine if carelessly operated; and which can,at will, be converted to a simple hand cranking operation where this isdesired.

These and other objects and novel features will be more fully understoodand appreciated from the following description of a preferred em--bodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration andshown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a perspectiveview showing one typical business form machine with which the powerdriving mechanism of the invention has been associated;

Fig. 2 is another perspective View of the machine shown in Fig. l, butfurther illustrating the dual cover mechanism in a raised position toreveal the interior of the machine, and also broken away along one sideof the machine casing to indicate the relative position of the power.riving mechanism of the invention with respect to the conventional feedroll members of the machine;

Fig. 2a is a detail perspective view showing feed rolls of the businessform machine;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view, partiy in side elevation,further illustrating the power driving mechanism shown in Fig. 2, but ona larger scale, and more particularly illustrating the drivingconnection for the conventional feed roll gears;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the elec trical motor utilizedin furnishing power to the apparatus shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail elevational view of the drivingconnection between the motor and driving shaft elements, including aclutch device;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the switch assembly employed to controlapplication of power generated in the motor shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 'l is another View of the switch shown in Fig. 6 viewed from oneside thereof and including diagrammatically a showing of a lever andstop mechanism associated with the switch;

Fig. 8 is a view corresponding to Fig. 7 but showing the switch in adifierent position assumed in response to change in the stop and levermechanism;

9 is a detail cross-section taken on the line t-8 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 10 is a detail fragmentary View of release means for the wormmechanism.

In the structure shown in the drawings, and referring particularly toFigs. 1 and 2, I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my inventioncombined with one type of business form machine. It should beunderstood, however, that I do not intend to limit the invention to anyspecific type of business form machine but I may, on the contrary, applymy invention to any one of a number of such machines commonly in use atthe present time. It is especially contemplated that the invention is tobe adaptable for use with either new machines or older types of machinesnow in operation.

The machine shown in the drawings has been generally designated by thearrow B between Figs. 1 and 2 and comprises a casing which includes abottom 2, side walls as 4, 5 and 8, a top It and a pair of cooperatinghinged covers I2 and hi, the uppermost of which is cut out to leave anorder blank aperture 1'6. In the con ventional form of such machines asordinarily employed at the present time, an order blank well orreceptacle for receiving a stack of folded blanks is provided in thespace directly below the cover i2. Usually this well is defined by twovertical side plates or partitions, as l8, one of which is shown in Fig.2.

When a stack of order blanks in folded re1ationship has been located inthe well, the uppermost blank B, (Fig. 1) is drawn up over the covermember l2 and passed between this member and the cut-out cover l4 andengaged at its forward edge between a pair of feed rolls H and i9located one above another in rolling contact with one another. Theserolls extend transversely across a midsection of the casing and liedirectly below the annular housing member 29 shown in Fig. 2. The feedrolls are shown removed from the casing in Fig. 2a, and are of theconventional type ordinarily employed in machines of this class.

The usual method of operating the rolls is to i turn by hand a crank 22which is fast on a shaft 24, the latter carrying the lower roll it! andat its opposite outer extremity having fixed thereon a gear 26. Thisgear, in turn, drives a gear 28 on the same shaft with the roll H.

The roll I9 is customarily arranged to make a single revolution witheach turn of the crank and is controlled so that it returns to the samestarting point with each cycle of operation. It is important in doingthis that the uppermost order blank B be drawn forwardly away from therolls, and the next succeeding blank C be brought up to Writing positionwith a tear line extending between the two adjacent blanks coming intoexact register with a guide edge ordinarily employed for this purpose.

In accordance with the invention I provide a power driving mechanism tooperate the rolls ll and i9 and take the place of the crank 22 when afully automatic operation is desired. This is accomplished withouteliminating the hand cranking mechanism from the machine. I furtherprovide for an arrangement of parts whereby I am enabled to takeadvantage of the very limited amount of space which occurs between theorder blank well partition and the outer side wall 8 of the machinecasing.

It is pointed out that earlier attempts have been made to install powerdriving mechanism operating at a point externally of the side walls ofthe casing and such devices have not been found to be satisfactory asthey require additiona1 space to support them and are not suited forgeneral business use. Because of the small amount of space whichactually is present between the partition of the order blank well andthe outer side wall of the casing, a distance of from one inch up to oneand one-half inches, at the most, standard types of power drivingmechanisms cannot be accommodated and no one, so far as I am aware, hassucceeded in devising a practical and dependable power driving unitwhich could be confined in such a narrow space and operate efficiently.

With these limitations in mind I have devised a novel electrical motorarrangement which can be accommodated in the narrow space occurringbetween one of the well partitions l8 and the outer side wall ii, andtherefore the standard size of casing can be utilized without change insize or appearance. I have further devised, in combination with themotor arrangement, a unique worm driving gear mechanism which can beeffectively connected in driving relationship with the electrical motor,in its confined position and which functions as a means of interlockingthe feed rolls with the worm drive when the motor is deenergized. Thedriving force delivered through the worm gear mechanism furnishes anadequate source of power to the feed rolls of the machine, which powercan be cut off instantaneously without the feed rolls over riding theirstarting point.

This electrical motor arrangement has been generally denoted by theletter M and shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5, and is preferably of theinduction type with current being supplied from a standard alternatingcurrent volt line through electrical conductors 3e and 32 connected tothe winding of the field member, as shown in Fig. 3,

to operate a rotating inductor 3d. This rotating inductor is furthershown in Figs. 4 and 5, and, as will be noted from an inspection ofthese figures, is particularly arranged to take advantage of and operatein the narrow elongated passageway which is present between the wellpartition l8 and the side wall 8 of the machine. This is made possibleby the preferred construction of the field member shown in the drawings,which con- C struction includes a stack of U-shaped laminae stamped fromsheets of magnetic iron, and as sociated with the U-shaped laminae is aremovable pole member M which carries the rotating inductor M. This polemember is adjustably received between the arms of the U-shaped fieldmember and is preferably held, for example, by key members K which slideinto keyways i and K" formed in the pole member and the field member,respectively, all as shown in Fig. 4. To protect the motor M I provide ashield or cover 33a, as shown in Fig. 3, and this member is formed of anon-magnetic metal. Similarly, I may pro vide a detachable cover 8a toprovide access to the motor, and this member also is preferably formedof a non-magnetic material.

As will be seen from the drawings, the rotating inductor extends, in itslongitudinal dimension, in a direction parallel to its axis of rotationand also parallel to the plane of the sides of the field member, andwhen the current is flowing the inductor will be subjected to a magneticpull or force which moves the rotating inductor in a direction from leftto right, as viewed in Figs. 3 and 5, in accordance with well knownelectrical induction principles. Advantage is taken of this type ofmovement to connect a worm gear mechanism between the inductor and thefeed rolls. Thus, in one preferred construction the inductor 34 has itsshaft extremity 35 received in a bearing 38 which is, in turn, mountedin a bracket member lii attached to the motor M, as shown. Similarly, asecond bracket member 38 is attached at the opposite side of the motorand sup,- ports a bearing fill in which is pivotally received anopposite shaft extremity 32. Fast on this shaft extremity is a clutchelement 34 which is adapted in response to movement of the inductor in adirection from left to right, as viewed in Fig. 3, to engage with asecond clutch element 46. The shaft extremity 42 in moving into anengaged 3 clutch position is forced against a spring member 48 containedwithin a bore formed centrally in the clutch element 46. When the motoris deenergized, the spring operates to push back the shaft 42, togetherwith attached clutch element 44, and thus disengage the clutch when themotor M is not operating. The two clutch elements and inductor shaft mayhoused within a casing 50 which is conveniently fastened to the bracket38.

At the opposite end of the casing 50 is a bearing 52 through which isreceived a shaft 54 connected to the clutch element 46. To this shaft 54is attached a flexible coupling element 56 which may comprise a coiledspring. The opposite end of the spring 56 is secured to the reduced endof another drive shaft element 58, and when the motor through the clutchelements as and 46 drives the shaft M, the spring 55 acts as a torquearresting means or flexible coupling for cushioning the shock of suddenstop and starting forces. It may also be desired to utilize a secondcoupling member 66 secured to the drive shaft 58, as suggested in Fig. 3of the drawings.

In combination with the motor, clutch and torque arresting means Iprovide a special worm gear mechanism including a worm 62. The spring tois anchored to one end of the worm member 62 which is mounted in abearing member 611, in turn received in a housing 66. A second bearingmember 63 in the housing 66 sup" ports the remaining end of the worl 52,as shown in Fig. 3.

Mounted in the housing 66 in keyed relation on a hollow shaft ll] (Fig.9) is a worm wheel 12 which is adapted to be driven by the worm 62 inresponse to rotative movement of the drive shaft 58 and motor shaft 42.The shaft 16 is mounted on a pin lea. Also mounted on the shaft I is apinion M which is adapted to mesh with the large gear 26 indicated inbroken lines in Fig. 9. The pinion I4 is slidably keyed to the shaft Illand is formed with a reduced neck in which runs a slider element 86. Thelatter member is slidably mounted on the shaft 84 and normally is heldin the position shown in Fig. 9 by a spring 82. The pinion 14 thereforemay be moved in a direction axially of the shaft H3 in response tomovement of a lever 18 pivoted in the machine frame at 18 and attachedto a control arm 79. This results in the pinion "M becoming disengagedfrom the large gear 26. It will be seen that the mechanism describedprovides a convenient means for completely disconnecting the drivingengagement of the worm mechanism with the large gear 26, and thereforepermits the rolls i! and iii to be operated in the conventional mannerby turning the handle 22. It will also be observed that the abovedescribed construction provides a means for interlocking the worm drivewith the feed roll in a constantly registered position at such time asthe electrical motor is deenergized.

In combination with the electrical motor means and worm driving gearmechanism described, I further provide a special switch device forperiodically stopping and starting operation of the feed rolls. Thisswitch device is shown at the left-hand side of Figs. 2 and 3 wherein ithas been generally denoted by the letter S. The objectives which theswitch is designed to accomplish are as follows:

If the operating switch handle is depressed and released it is intendedthat the circuit be closed, and remain closed, until the feed rolls havemade one revolution. Similarly, if the operating knob is depressed andheld down, it is desired that the circuit be closed, and remain closed,for a single revolution of the feed rolls. Finally, if the operatingknob is depressed intermittently within the time of one cycle ofoperation it is intended that the circuit will be closed; remain closedfor a single revolution of the feed rolls; and will automatically stopat the end of a single revolution. As noted in these figures the switchmay be con veniently supported on a U-shaped bracket member which may,for example, rest on the bottom 2 of the casing or a side thereof and befastened in some convenient manner, as by welding. A cover 92 isadjustably secured over the switch and in contact with the bracket 9%.

The bracket 96 supports an insulated terminal plate 98 on which issecured an electrical terminal its and a contact spring 32 whichnormally seeks to engage with the terminal 56% in the posi-- tion shownin dotted lines in Fig. 8. Mounted for engagement with the contactspring N2 is a wheel I04 (Fig. 6) having serrated peripheral edgeswhich, as the wheel rotates, are adapted to move the spring :02 into andout of contact with the terminal )0 and thus open and close a circuitthrough the conductor 3%} and the motor M.

The wheel N14 is carried on a shaft I06 which is rotatably mountedthrough the U portion of the bracket 65!, as may be better seen in Figs.'7 and 8. Also fixed on this shaft N36 is a selector disk 108 which isformed with a series of indented portions and adjoining shoulders "38a.Loose 1y pivoted on the shaft 166 in close proximity to the outersurface of the wheel its are two operating arms H6 and H2. Each of thesearms has outer extremities which are offset to provide engaging tipsadapted to engage against the shouldered portions 030, of the disk.

At the lower end of the arm i ii), as illustrated in Fig. 7, ispivotally pinned a rod H4, the. op posite extremity of which ispivotally attached to a lever H6 and the lever itself is mounted on apivot I I8 which may be fastened or mounted in some convenient portionof the adjacent side wall of the machine, as shown in Fig. 3. The upperend of the lever l is is arranged to overlie the gear 26 and projectupwardly into the path of travel of a stop member I26 fixed on the faceof the gear 26, as best shown in Fig. 3. The stop member has also beenindicated diagrammatically in two different positions in Figs. '7 and 8,respectively.

It will thus be seen that when the large gear 26 rotates in a clockwisedirection, as viewed in Fig. '3, the stop I20 will move around intocontact with the upper end of the lever l is and will pivot the leverinto some position such as that suggested in Fig. 8. In so doing itwill, through the rod H4, pull the lower end of the arm M9 forwardlyinto a position such as that shown in Fig. 8 against the action of acoiled spring 122 connected into the arm I it at one end and anchored atthe other end in the bracket 69. The are of rotation through which thetip of the arm H0 may be turned by the rod I I4 is less than thedistance between any two adjacent portions 198a of the disk andtherefore cannot move into a position to produce further rotativemovement of the disk in a clockwise direction until the disk has itselfbeen stepped ahead by the arm H2. Once the disk has been stepped aheadby the arm H2 at some predetermined point the stop 126 moves out ofcontact with the lever H6 and the arm H0 can then pass over the nextsucceeding portion [08s, and when actuated by the spring I22 willproduce the desired rotative movement.

The second arm H2 is arranged in a position substantially at rightangles or some other angle to the arm IIl) whose tip likewise may movethrough an are less than the distance between the portions IBM, and thisarm has an outer extremity received through a slot I26 formed in aswitch bar I30 which is pivotally attached at I32 to the bracket 90 andwhich carries at its outer end an operating knob I34. At one side of thebar I30 is a projection I36 to which is secured an extremity of a springI38 and the other end of the spring is anchored in an upright anglepiece I40. The action of the spring I38 is to normally hold theoperating bar and knob I34 in a raised position. By depressing the knobI34 and thus pivoting the bar I30 downwardly, the arm I I2 is caused torotate on its shaft for a short distance in a clockwise direction.

Assuming that the device is in its normal position shown in Fig. 7, sucha limited rotation of the disk I08 will allow the contact spring I02 tocome into contact with the terminal I00 and thus close a circuit throughthe motor. The closed circuit thus made will remain in operation duringthe period in which the stop member I20 on the gear 26 makes a singlerevolution starting from a point, such as that shown in Fig. 3, andreturning to this same point. In the manner already described, the stopI20 after engaging with the lever II' causes the arm III! to first movein a counter-clockwise direction and then to step the disk member aheada sufficient amount to raise the contact spring I02 out of engagementwith the terminal Hill. [No further operation of the device takes placeuntil the knob I34 is again depressed. The relationship between the armI I2 and the arm H0 is such that the arm II2 sets the switch in a closedposition and cannot operate again until the arm I I!) has performed itsfunction, as described above.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided asimple but efficient mech= anism for power driving the feed rolls of abusiness form machine, and I am enabled to develop a satisfactory degreeof energy by means of a special motor arrangement in which a rotatinginductor is caused to move in the direction of its length and parallelto its axis of rotation, as well a as parallel to the plane of the sidesof the field member, in the narrow passageway or space lying between theorder blank well and the side wall of the machine casing. It is alsopointed out that I have combined with this motor arrangement a specialworm driving gear mechanism which translates energy from the rotatinginductor directly to the gearing for the feed rolls of the machine sothat there is no lost motion at any point in the mechanism. Moreover,the stopping and starting point can be very finely set. Anotherimportant feature of the construction described resides in the fact thatthe switch mechanism has been especially devised to control the movementof both of these mechanisms in such a related manner that energy can beinstantly cut off, at will, and the register of the tear line connectedorder blanks may be accomplished in a practical manner. The assembly ischaracterized by a relatively small number of parts which can be cheaplyand quickly combined in the space referred to with a minimum ofinstallation cost, and without interfering with the normal operation ofthe machine in any way. Furthermore, the entire operation can beconverted from a power drive to a manual cranking operation by merelythrowing the lever I6. I may also desire to modify the invention byproviding a separate electromagnetic control relay which is arranged inseries with the motor M to independently control the clutch.

While I have shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, it should beunderstood that changes and modifications may be resorted to in keepingwith the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a BL iness form machine of the class having a business form welland an outer casing constructed and arranged with its side walls lyingin spaced relation to the sides of the said well to define a narrowpassageway, a pair of feed rolls transversely mounted in the casing inposition to engage and feed business forms from the saidwell, gear meansfor actuating the feed rolls, said gear means extending into saidpassageway, an electrical motor constructed and arranged to fit into thenarrow passageway, a worm drive for operativeiy connecting theelectrical motor in driving relationship with the said gear means, andan electrical switch device responsive to movement of said gear meansfor controlling the operation of the said electrical motor.

2. In a business form machine of the class having a business form welland an outer casing constructed and arranged with its side walls lyingin spaced relation to the sides of the said well to define a narrowpassageway, a pair of feed rolls transversely mounted in the casing inposition to engage and feed business forms from the said well, gearmeans for actuating the feed rolls, said gear means extending into saidpassageway, a power driving mechanism disposed in close proximity to thesaid gear means in the passage-- way, said power driving mechanismincluding a worm drive operatively connected to the gear means, anelectrical motor for actuating the worm drive, said motor beingconstructed and arranged to fit between the sides of the narrowpassageway, and an electrical switch device mounted in the passagewayfor controlling the operation of the said electrical motor.

3. A structure as defined in claim 2, in which the electrical switchdevice is operatively connected to, and under the control of, the saidgear means.

4. A structure as defined in claim 2, in which the electrical switchdevice includes an actuating arm, a pivoted lever connected to theactuating arm, one end of said lever projecting into close proximity tothe said gear means, and a stop element rotatable with the said gearmeans for periodically engaging against and moving the pivoted lever.

5. A structure as defined in claim 2, in which the worm drive includes aWorm wheel, a worm, a driving shaft extending along the passageway andconnected to said worm, and clutch means for engaging said shaft indriving relationship with the electrical motor.

6. A structure as defined in claim 2, in which the worm drive includes aworm wheel, a worm,

a driving shaft for rotating the worm, a clutch mechanism for engagingthe electrical motor in driving relationship with the said drivingshaft, said electrical motor being of the induction type and including arotor element constructed and arranged to move in an axial direction andcause the clutch to assume an engaged position when the electrical motoris energized.

7. A structure as defined in claim 2, in which the electrical motorcomprises an induction motor including a field, a rotor, and a controlcircuit, and means for supporting the rotor in a position in which itmay move axially toward and away from the said gear means.

8. A structure as defined in claim 2, in which the electrical motorcomprises a field, a rotor, and a control circuit, means for supportingthe rotor in a position in which it may move axially toward and awayfrom said gear means, a clutch element carried by said rotor, a secondclutch element attached to said worm drive and adapted to resilientlyengage with the said first clutch element when the motor is energized.

9. A structure as defined in claim 2, in which the electrical switchdevice comprises electrical terminals, spring contact means for closinga circuit through said terminals, a rotatable wheel member constructedand arranged to alternately move the contact means in to and out of aclosed circuit position, and selector disk mechanism for selectivelymoving the rotatable wheel member.

10. A structure as defined in claim 2, in which the electrical switchdevice comprises electrical terminals, spring contact means for closinga circuit through said terminals, a rotatable wheel member constructedand arranged to alternately move the contact means in to and out of aclosed circuit position, selector disk mechanism for selectively movingthe rotatable wheel member, said selector disk mechanism including aselector disk having a series of spaced-apart serrations locatedtherearound, an arm pivotally mounted on the disk for rotation throughan arc of a magnitude less than the distance between any two serrations,and a second arm pivotally mounted on the disk in angular relationshipwith respect to the first arm and adapted to produce a small rotativemovement of the disk into a position where one of the serrations may beengaged by the said first arm, said latter arm being responsive tomovement of the said gear means.

11. In a business form machine of the class having a business form welland an outer casing constructed and arranged with its side walls lyingin spaced relation to the sides of the said well to define a narrowpassageway, a pair of feed rolls transversely mounted in the casing inposition to engage and feedbusiness forms from the said well, gear meansfor actuating the feed rolls, said gear means extending in to the saidpassageway, an electrical motor constructed and arranged to fit in tothe narrow passageway, a worm drive for operatively connecting theelectrical motor in driving relationship with the said gear means, anelectrical switch device responsive to movement of said gear means forcontrolling the operation of the said electrical motor, and said wormdrive occurring in interlocked relationship with the said gear means toinstantly stop the feed rolls and hold them in a stationary positionwhen the electrical motor is deenergized.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

